TS Picks: February 24, 2016

Selections from The Scientist’s reading list:

“As an outsider—young, female, and not an established stem-cell biologist—[Haruko] Obokata, the newspapers argued, was unhindered by conventional notions of what cells can and cannot do. Her fresh perspective, coupled with dogged work and natural genius, had conspired to create one of the great scientific breakthroughs of the twenty-first century.” —The New Yorker on STAP and stem cell research

While the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) protects people from discrimination based on their genetics by employers and health insurers, its reach may be limited. Fast Company spoke with a woman who was reportedly denied life-insurance coverage because she carries the cancer-associated BRCA1 mutation and has a family history of the disease.